Looking back at 2014
It’s that time of the year again when I take some time to reflect on the past year and prepare for the present one.
2014 has been a great year in many ways, and not so great in some ways. I closed off the year with a great month by completing the purchase of my first home and moving in within 3 weeks. In 2015, I hope to have more people over for delicious dinners and deep dialogues.
December was a crazy busy month what with the relocation and the finalizing of my new book “The Merchant Of Time”. Sadly I wasn’t able to get it to print before the year ended. It’s an achievement that had to be put off to 2015. Even so, working on this book has been extremely fulfilling.
Productivity-wise, 2014 was awesome! I made many new like-minded connections and accepted, finally, that I am a productivity power-user. I toyed with starting a business in this area and in so doing, I discovered something important — I don’t really want to start a business in this area. It’s important because I no longer have to wonder “what if?” since I now have the answer to that question. It’s a door I can now close.
Family-wise, I’ve gained much clarity in my most important life relationships, all of which achieved great stability and depth this year. My wish for 2015 is that this continues.
Socially, I finally found a community to be a part of where I can give and receive value. The most important part of this community is that it is non-judgemental. I’ve been searching for such a community for almost 10 years.
Spiritually, I’ve achieved an understanding of my faith journey and, for the first time in more than five years, found peace of mind. I know where I am in faith growth and where I am growing towards.
Financially, since I liquidated most of my investments to buy my first home, 2015 is going to be about rebuilding my cash and investment funds.
Psychologically, I paid my final visit to my psychiatrist in December 2014, having gone for more than a year without medication for depression. It’s taken a long time — 5 years, to be precise — and I’ve finally achieved independence from medication. The true achievement isn’t so much about the medication as it is about being able to manage my emotions in a healthy way.
Professionally, 2014 hasn’t been spectacularly successful. I attribute this lacklustre year to the fact that I didn’t set goals for myself — another experiment. Having learnt an important lesson here, I’m confident things will be different in 2015. They already are, since I’ve already set my goals for the year.
Finally, 2014 has been a year of challenging myself, pushing myself to the edge of and beyond my comfort zone. I’ve grown tremendously this year and am much more comfortable taking action in spite of fear and risk. There’s a lesson in every success and failure.
If I were to sum up 2014 in a single sentence, it would be, “You’d never know if you didn’t try.”
